Islam's problem is freedom of speech and someone very prominent agreed with me

Submitted by Prashant, Nov 30, 2018 at 21:10

Dear Dr Pipes. If I have to describe Islam's problems in one sentence it will be, "Islam lacks freedom". If I have elaborate it I will say that Islam restricts freedom of thought for its followers and also for those who do not follow it. And, of course, we hear a lot of hogwash from the apologists that Prophet Muhammad said that there is no compulsion in religion. This hogwash cannot erase the truth.

Luckily more and more people are becoming aware of it and speaking about it. Recently a very prominent and powerful person repeated this sentiment. The chief of Indian army General Bipin Rawat (who commands a million armed men and women) yesterday said that Pakistan must become a secular state before it can have good relations with India. I completely admire this statement and believe that it applies to all Islamic theocracies including Pakistan. I would like your readers to note that no world leader has been so direct on this issue as General Rawat. Each of Presidents Trump, Bush, and Obama have said we do not want to impose "our values" on other nations. But General Rawat minced no words. He clearly and directly said that unless Pakistan is an Islamic state, true peace is not possible.

This is not an empty statement. It is meaningful. Secularism is not "our value". It is like the golden rule and it is a universal value. It is absurd to say that Islamic interests can murder and rape the Yazidis in Iraq and demand democracy everywhere else. Every non-symmetric rule in the Islamic rhetoric is absurd. Every non-symmetric rule in any doctrine is absurd.

I am so thankful that some one as prominent as the chief of Indian Defense Forces made such a statement. The tide need to turn and this kind of statements repeated over and over will turn the tide.

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